In various products (components) such as household electric appliances and building members as well as decorative components related to automobiles, to enhance the designing property, those variously decorated in wood-effect, fabric-effect, metal-effect and the like have been used, and a metal-effect appearance with a high brightness have come to be desired in recent years.
As a technique for providing a metal-effect to various molded components, the technique most commonly used is coating. Although coating can provide various designs and functions to a product, it often uses an organic solvent, giving a large influence on environments. Further, there are instances that recycling is not easy due to a coated film, and presence of a coating process has recently been regarded as a problem in increasing concerns to environmental problems in recent years.
As other techniques to provide a metal-effect, there are plating, vapor deposition and the like. There is also a problem that recycling is difficult due to a metal layer in the case of plating and vapor deposition, and particularly in the case of plating, the influence on environments by heavy metals is large, thus its alternatives are being desired strongly. Further, in the case of plating and vapor deposition, an electromagnetic shielding property occurs resulting from the metal layer, and there are instances that an electromagnetic interference takes place when used as a decorative material in an automobile or a cellular phone, posing a problem.
Meanwhile, various multi-layer films in which thermoplastic resins are laminated have been proposed, and for example, those that can markedly prevent glass from breaking and flying apart by sticking a multi-layer laminated film having excellent tear resistance onto a glass surface are being utilized (for example, see Patent Documents 1 to 3).
Further, by alternately laminating resin layers having different refractive indexes in multi-layers, there exist films selectively reflecting a specific wavelength (for example, see Patent Documents 4 to 6). Among these, a film selectively reflecting a specific wavelength acts as a filter transmitting or reflecting specific light, and is used as a film for a backlight in a liquid crystal display.
This film selectively reflecting light with a specific wavelength can have a metal-effect by setting its reflection band in visible light. However, the conventional laminated film selectively reflecting light with a specific wavelength was insufficient in formability. Hence, it was difficult to form a desired shape even by conducting forming such as vacuum forming, vacuum-pneumatic forming, plug-assisted vacuum-pneumatic forming, in mold forming, insert molding, or draw forming. Further, since a part stretched by the forming becomes thin, there is a problem that color change occurs, resulting in deterioration of the metal-effect. Furthermore, there is a problem that a part stretched is very easily delaminated. Moreover, there is also a problem that the conventional film looks colored because it is unsuitable in reflecting characteristics. That is, no conventional technique has satisfied all the following conditions:    1) a metal-effect material transmitting an electromagnetic wave,    2) a material capable of forming without color change after forming and hardly causing delamination,    3) a material without coloring and with a natural metal-effect appearance.    [Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Hei 6-190995 (1994) (page 2)    [Patent Document 2] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Hei 6-190997 (1994) (page 2)    [Patent Document 3] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Hei 10-76620 (1998) (page 2)    [Patent Document 4] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Hei 3-41401 (1991) (page 2)    [Patent Document 5] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Hei 4-295804 (1992) (page 2)    [Patent Document 6] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Hei 9-506837 (1997) (page 2)